A Ward-Round Non-Technical Skills for Surgery (WANTSS) Taxonomy

Around half of surgical adverse events occur outside the operating room. However the majority of nontechnical skills (NTS) training programs have been developed for the intraoperative environment. Ward rounds are a crucial part of extraoperative care and to date no specific NTS training manual has been developed targeting emergency general surgical ward rounds.

To develop a NTS taxonomy for emergency general surgical ward rounds that can be used to improve surgical team members' NTS and improve outcomes.

A literature review of existing NTS taxonomies was conducted, followed by semistructured interviews and observational data collection, to determine good and poor surgical ward-round behaviors. These behaviors were reviewed by a panel of subject matter experts and categorized into a taxonomy, using the Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons taxonomy framework as a guide.

The Ward-round Non-Technical Skills for Surgery taxonomy includes examples of good and poor ward-round-specific behaviors, grouped into elements and categories. The taxonomy can be used as both a training and teaching manual for the surgical team.

Ward rounds are a crucial part of extraoperative surgical care. The Ward-round Non-Technical Skills for Surgery taxonomy provides surgical teams with a manual to help them improve their ward-round NTS.